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Re:Don't Take VC Funding – It Will Destroy Your Company by jacquesm on Sunday July 09, 2023 @12:58PM (#36656192)
You're right that in numbers of survivors there bootstrapped ones are going to outnumber the VC ones. But in terms of total # of employees, total $ of turnover and profits I would expect it to be the reverse.

But for any individual founder, if you want to aim for 'successful enough to be relatively wealthy and worry free' then 'bootstrapped' is the way to go. If you aim for an outsize success, wealth for the next N generations and massive impact on the world (for good or for bad) it's going to be very hard to avoid the VC track.

I wrote about this long ago, but it is still quite relevant:

https://jacquesmattheij.com/three-roads-to-the-top-of-the-mo...

Re:Don't Take VC Funding – It Will Destroy Your Company by Alex3917 on Sunday July 09, 2023 @01:01PM (#36656221)
> But in terms of total # of employees, total $ of turnover and profits I would expect it to be the reverse.

In general, the less money that startups raise, the better their returns:

https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/15/overdosing-on-vc-lessons-f...

There are a number of reasons for this, a big one being that marginal revenue is always the least profitable:

https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/26/toxic-vc-and-the-marginal-...

Re:Don't Take VC Funding – It Will Destroy Your Company by dash2 on Sunday July 09, 2023 @01:17PM (#36656398)
This is fully compatible with the OP's point. They mentioned total $. Returns are percentages.
Re:Don't Take VC Funding – It Will Destroy Your Company by DeathArrow on Sunday July 09, 2023 @04:05PM (#36658331)
The revenue can be 0. As long as the shares are worth a lot, you are still a very rich person.
Re:Don't Take VC Funding – It Will Destroy Your Company by DeathArrow on Sunday July 09, 2023 @04:03PM (#36658315)
Seeing that you wrote the article 12 years ago, I am curious how did it work for you. Did you make it to the top of the mountain?
Re:Don't Take VC Funding – It Will Destroy Your Company by jacquesm on Sunday July 09, 2023 @06:34PM (#36659679)
Well over and beyond my wildest expectations.
Re:Don't Take VC Funding – It Will Destroy Your Company by DeathArrow on Monday July 10, 2023 @05:32AM (#36663952)
I am glad to hear that! So hard work pays out if you have determination.
Re:Don't Take VC Funding – It Will Destroy Your Company by jacquesm on Monday July 10, 2023 @09:15AM (#36665923)
And lucky... don't discount the luck factor. If not for a few small twists it would have all come to nothing.